Purpose

Obesity is a risk factor for the development of many diseases including lifestyle diseases. The combination of eating habit and exercise habit, which are beneficial for health, works synergistically to improve body fat, prevent obesity and maintain and improve health. Thus, Fukushima Prefecture is working on food education activities and enhancement of exercise guidance and physical education classes at schools as well as enrichment of exercising opportunities in each community. However, according to the result of the school health statistics of fiscal 2017, the proportion of obese children is the highest in Fukushima prefecture in the whole nation and this proportion has increased from the previous year. In addition to the traditional food education activities and measures to improve physical strength, new activities that enable school children to work more positively on health promotion activities are needed. The applicant has so far collected and transmit the information on traditional foods in Aizu and found those with hypermetabolism functions. The aim of this project is to help schoolchildren understand the meaning of improving body fat and learn the practice method through experimental activities in which schoolchildren themselves measure their own body indexes (body fat and daily activity amount) by developing and providing school lunch menus making full use of the functionalities of such traditional food.

Contents

For the purpose of Experimental Activities for Body Fat Improvement with a Traditional Functional Food and Development of Health Promotion Leaders, we executed three issues as follows.

1. Body fat improvement effect of ginseng or “Otane carrot” on humans
2. Consideration of the lifestyle, based on the data obtained through body index measurement of school children
3. Gastrological consideration to make use of ginseng for school lunch and the menu suggestions